site.btaSocialist Leader Zafirov Talks with German Vice Chancellor and Defence Minister during SPD Congress

Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Socialist Party (BSP) Leader Atanas Zafirov was a guest at the congress of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) in Berlin. During his visit on Saturday and Sunday, he also held a series of talks with German government members, the BSP said in a press release.

At separate meetings with the new SPD Co-leaders Lars Klingbeil (Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister) and Baerbel Bas (Labour and Social Affairs Minister), Zafirov emphasized the SPD’s important role in the European Socialist family and wished them a successful tenure and good luck with the nation’s governance.

The guest held a working meeting with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, during which they discussed joint defence projects of the governments of Bulgaria and Germany, the BSP’s role in normalizing the Bulgarian political environment, and the efforts to keep nationalist and extreme populist parties out of the two countries’ public life. The meeting proceeded in a very cordial atmosphere. Pistorius accepted Zafirov’s invitation to visit Sofia shortly.

Zafirov and BSP Youth Alliance Leader Gabriel Valkov met with Friedrich Ebert Foundation President Martin Schulz and Secretary General Sabine Fandrych, and the head of the Foundation’s Sofia Office, Jacques Paparo. The sides expressed satisfaction with their joint work and discussed ways to deepen and continue projects in education and social democracy development.

At all meetings, the hosts expressed satisfaction with Bulgaria’s pro-European course of development and the BSP’s active participation in the process.